CVE-2005-2526 in Mac OS X
Summary
by MITRE
CUPS in Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending a partial IPP request and closing the connection.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/16/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-2526 represents a significant denial of service flaw within the Common Unix Printing System implementation on Mac OS X versions 10.3.9 and 10.4.2. This issue specifically targets the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) handling mechanism that CUPS employs for managing print jobs and printer communications. The vulnerability operates through a sophisticated manipulation of network protocol states that exploits fundamental weaknesses in how the printing system processes incomplete requests.
The technical flaw manifests when remote attackers send partial IPP requests to the CUPS daemon and subsequently terminate the connection abruptly. This particular attack vector leverages the system's failure to properly handle incomplete or malformed requests, causing the printing service to enter an infinite loop or consume excessive CPU resources while attempting to process the malformed data. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and error handling within the IPP request processing pipeline, where the system fails to properly terminate or reject incomplete requests that would otherwise be discarded or handled gracefully.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can effectively render the printing functionality of affected Mac OS X systems completely unusable. Attackers can consume significant CPU cycles through this method, potentially leading to system-wide performance degradation or complete system unresponsiveness. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where network printing is heavily utilized, as the attack can be executed remotely without requiring authentication or specialized privileges, making it a particularly dangerous flaw for network administrators to address. This type of resource exhaustion attack aligns with common tactics described in the attack pattern taxonomy under the MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically categorizing as a resource exhaustion technique.
From a security standards perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-400, which describes "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption" and represents a classic example of how improper input handling can lead to denial of service conditions. The flaw demonstrates the critical importance of implementing proper request lifecycle management and resource cleanup procedures in network services, particularly those that handle protocol-specific data parsing. The vulnerability also reflects broader concerns about state management in network services, where incomplete request handling can lead to resource leaks or excessive processing cycles.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate system patching and updates to the CUPS implementation in Mac OS X, as well as network-level protections such as implementing connection rate limiting and request timeout mechanisms. System administrators should consider implementing network segmentation to limit exposure of printing services to untrusted networks, while also monitoring for unusual CPU consumption patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The fix typically involves implementing proper request validation and ensuring that incomplete requests are handled gracefully without consuming excessive system resources. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify patterns of partial request submissions that are characteristic of this specific attack vector, as recommended in industry best practices for network service hardening and security monitoring.